can letting your car sit for long periods of time cause the car to burn oil??? i lost my license back in august and i have only driven it a handfull of times since then. i start it everyday and let it run for atliest 10 mins to keep the battery good and to let it thaw out.(ohio winters suck) anyway today i took it up the street to the gas station to fill it up and to put air in my tires and when i shut my car off i looked at the exhaust and there was a little bit of brown liquid in the exhaust that was smoking.. im not 100% sure that its oil, but im wondering what else it could be? anyone else have/had this problem and if this is the case what should i do??? t.i.a

 

anyone????

 

letting your car idle for a little while isn't going to cause it to burn oil. especially if you're only doing it for 10-15 minutes at a time. first and foremost, check your oil periodically and see if the level is going down. also keep an eye on your exhaust, of course you're going to see the fog comin' out the back b/c it's so cold, but see if it's thicker or darker, that'll also tell you. keep something under the car to see if you see drips. do a little trial and error, you'll find out.

 

sounds more to me like condensation in your exhaust, and after driving it its coming out, except its brown cause of a bit of rust, and carbon. I dont really think its a big deal.

When you really start driving the car again daily then keep an eye on your oil level, and any smoke coming out of your exhaust(look for blue btw)

 

running your car 10-15 minutes at a time and not really ever driving it is probably worse than just letting it sit. The condensation never gets a chance to burn off and collects in the engine and the exhaust, it'll rust out the exhaust and milk up your oil...

 

as i said i take it for a spin now and again... but i dont want the battery to die so i let her run for a while... thanks for the help guys ill look into all that and keep everyone posted!